南韓教授趙宰元（譯音）示範新型馬桶的運作原理。（路透檔案照）
◎孫宇青
Cho Jae-weon, an urban and environmental engineering professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology（UNIST）, has designed an eco-friendly toilet connected to a laboratory that uses excrement to produce biogas and manure.
南韓國立蔚山科學技術研究院的都市和環境工程教授趙宰元（譯音），設計出一種環境友善的馬桶，可透過與一間實驗室連線，將糞便製造成生物沼氣和肥料。
The BeeVi toilet – a portmanteau of the words bee and vision – uses a vacuum pump to send faeces into an underground tank, reducing water use. There, microorganisms break down the waste to methane, which becomes a source of energy for the building, powering a gas stove, hot-water boiler and solid oxide fuel cell.
這個馬桶名為BeeVi，為蜜蜂和視野的英文字詞的混成詞。它用真空幫浦將排泄物送至地下儲存槽，以減少用水。槽內的微生物將排泄物分解成沼氣，進而為大樓提供電力，點燃瓦斯爐、熱水器，以及做為固態氧化物燃料電池的燃料。
An average person defecates about 500g a day, which can be converted to 50 litres of methane gas. This gas can generate 0.5kWh of electricity or be used to drive a car for about 1.2km.（Reuters）
每人每天平均排便500公克，可轉換成50升沼氣，進而產生0.5千瓦時的電力，使汽車行進約1.2公里。（路透）
新聞辭典
excrement：名詞，糞便。例句：That is a room full of animal excrement.（那是一間滿是動物糞便的房間。）
faeces：或作Feces，名詞，糞便。例句：We are told to clean up the human faeces in the house.（我們被叫去清除屋內的人類糞便。）
defecate：動詞，排便。例句：Cats usually defacate in sandy soils.（貓咪通常在沙土排便。）
華客新聞 | 時事與歷史：中英對照讀新聞》South Korean toilet turns excrement into power and digital currency 南韓馬桶將糞便變成電力和數位貨幣
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